What I'm thankful for this year
Since it's Thanksgiving (ok, a day late but my family is celebrating it a day later this year), here's my short list...
I'm thankful that I have so many long-time friends who stay in touch. (I think I am really fortunate in this regard compared to so many folks I know.)
I am thankful that I have a church home that has been so loving to me and such an encouragement and a challenge to.
I am thankful that I now live where I do in Northeast OKC, and that I have space to garden where I now live.
I am thankful for my many intelligent and thoughtful conservative and moderate friends. They keep me humble (well at least they try, I have a long ways to go in embracing humility) and remind me to never assumeyou have all the answers.
I am thankful that in these dark, dark, dark times, that there are so many good folks out there who are working for an end to war and other kinds of needless killing, and that there are folks out there who really do care for the poor and oppressed.
I am thankful for the many spiritual guides in my life, both in the past and present: for my many past church homes (in both the Churches of Christ, charismatic and Mennonite traditions), for those who have been a spiritual mentor to me and also to the many authors of spiritual books that have challenged me; I am particularly grateful to Quaker author Richard Foster who first challenged me with the idea of simplicity as a spiritual virtue, for zen buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh for teaching me that responding to the Buddha's teachings does not make me disloyal to Christ, Wendell Berry for showing me that gardening is a spiritual act of love for God, and to the ancient Jewish prophet Amos for showing me that one of the best ways to spend your life is in fighting for poor who are oppressed by the rich (and that God cares when folks are mistreated).
I am thankful to my readers. Knowing that my typings are read has been such a source of sanity over the last year or so (because things never seem so bad if you can talk about it and actually be heard)
